Networks to converge on nuptials

Thursday

Live coverage of Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding on Friday in London will air on three network affiliates in Columbus.

Live coverage of Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding on Friday in London will air on three network affiliates in Columbus.

ABC coverage will be broadcast from 4 to 10 a.m. on WSYX-TV (Channel 6).

CBS will cover the nuptials from 4 to 9 a.m. on WBNS-TV (Channel 10). As part of that coverage, The Early Show will pre-empt 10TV News HD at 4:25, 5 and 6 a.m.

NBC's wedding programming will air from 4 to 7a.m. on WCMH-TV (Channel 4) and continue with ongoing coverage (from 7 to 11 a.m.) throughout the Today show. WCMH will provide its usual NBC4 Today news, weather and traffic from 4:30 to 7a.m. on the station's secondary digital channel, Retro TV 4.2 and online at www.nbc4i.com.

Fox will stick with programming as usual, sending viewers to sister network Fox News Channel on cable for wedding coverage. Columbus affiliate WTTE-TV (Channel 28) will show its usual morning programming: Good Day Express (starting at 6) and Good Day Columbus. Perhaps the most pressing question beyond the appropriate millinery is: Do you plan to get up early or stay up late?

On Friday night, Barbara Walters will present "A Modern Fairytale" from London for a special edition of 20/20 at 10 on ABC, including Channel 6.

NBC, including Channel 4, similarly will clear two hours to debrief royals watchers and replay portions of the wedding from 9 to 11 p.m. Friday on Dateline NBC.

CBS, including Channel 10, has slated an hour for wedding coverage on Friday night with The Royal Wedding: Modern Majesty at 8.

Various other cable networks - including BBC America, CNN, E! Entertainment, MSNBC, Telemundo, Univision and the Weather Channel - will provide coverage, too. Some will start as early as 3a.m.

For William and Kate's wedding, a few things will be different compared with 30 years ago:

• Theirs will be the first royal nuptials with a Twitter hashtag, #rw2011.

Anyone with a smartphone can tweet, snap or blog about the nuptials.

In 1981, viewers faced a choice among Peter Jennings and Barbara Walters chatting about the monarchy on ABC; Tom Brokaw explaining protocol on NBC; and Dan Rather describing the bride's 25-foot train on CBS. There was no cable coverage to speak of - and no obsessive networks such as Wedding Central (a subsidiary of Cablevision with limited distribution), which has enlisted celebrity blogger Perez Hilton as a commentator.

• YouTube will offer a Royal Channel and tons of streaming coverage from global news organizations.

• Several British broadcasters are planning to carry the spectacle in 3-D.

• The Friday event is expected to be witnessed by 2billion viewers - the largest live TV audience in history.

Thirty years ago, a record 750million people tuned in to see Lady Diana Spencer marry the Prince of Wales.

Dispatch Reporter Tim Feran contributed to this story.

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